Tickets are $125 for a "mere mortal" and $250 for a "VIP vampire" to attend Matt Geiger's Halloween event.
By TERRI BRYCE REEVES
Published October 27, 2004
EAST LAKE - Imagine one of Tampa Bay's newest and most spectacular mansions covered in cobwebs and overrun by angry scarecrows and bloodthirsty monsters.
Got it?
That's Geigerween II.
It's a Halloween fundraising event thrown by Matt Geiger, a retired NBA player known for throwing supersized parties for favorite friends and charities. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Helena Paolini Fund and the Children's Home of Tampa.
Everything about Geiger seems huge. He is 7 feet, 1 inch tall. His home is an opulent 28,500 square feet. It sits on 40 lush acres, where he keeps a menagerie of bison, long-horned cattle known as Watusi, donkeys, a miniature horse, birds, lizards, fish and a mixed-breed dog named Puppy One. His spread is dubbed the Big Daddy Ranch, named after a pet bison that achieved fame of his own a few years back by running off into the woods.
Now the big guy has turned his manor over to about 40 volunteer "haunting specialists" who are transforming the stylish mansion into something only the brave or intoxicated will be able to endure.
"I've always loved Halloween parties and I do a lot for charities, so I thought why not have a great party and raise some money to donate?" said Geiger, 35, and single.
Tickets are $125 each for a "mere mortal" and $250 for a "VIP vampire." Both types of tickets will get the purchasers a party voucher, valet parking, spirits and food from local restaurants.
Vampires will have access to some special areas and be invited back for a holiday party at the mansion. Costumes are mandatory, and the party will be limited to 500 guests age 21 or older.
Geiger, a former Countryside High star athlete, said he likes to support causes that are personal and where he can see the tangible results of his efforts. In this case, Helena Paolini is a friend of his who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. It paralyzes the body, and Geiger said he would like to help fund a $25,000 special bed for her that would allow her to be moved easily in many different directions.
He also wants to help local children who have been victims of abuse, neglect and abandonment have a special holiday, or better yet, find a family, he said.
Geiger held a similar fundraiser last year called Halloween for Paolini.
"The event raised about $40,000," said Kristen Levine, event coordinator. That bash was held eight days after film crews from The Punisher finished shooting scenes at the mansion, which became the fictional home of Howard Saint, played by John Travolta.
Morgan Malice - this is his real name - the special event coordinator for Infinity Broadcasting, has acted as the "master of disaster" for the two parties.
"This one will be totally different than last year's," he said.
Guests will enter massive wrought iron gates, have their cars valet-parked, and then attempt to make it through a haunted cornfield "with an army of renegade scarecrows that will make life miserable," he said.
They will then enter another scare zone, a 30-foot-high wicked windmill.
Guests will proceed through a cave created from Geiger's mountain-like waterslide, filled with enormous African cave-dwelling spiders, heavy flopping tarantulas, rats and roaches.
The Blood Lagoon Bar overlooking the pool should provide some temporary relief for the terrified. Astrologer Janet Sciales, fortuneteller Zoltan, and Professor Paul Bearer II will entertain.
Most of the party will take place on the first floor with only the VIP vampires allowed onto the second-floor vampire patio and the first-floor cigar room, which has a round game table that reads Big Daddy Ranch Casino.
Bring your own cigars.
The downstairs will be turned into a discotheque dungeon with three dance cages surrounding the oblong bar, which seats about two dozen.
Guests in the party room may also enjoy watching the live sharks swimming about in the 3,000-gallon saltwater tank, one of Geiger's three aquariums. Or they can sit down and watch a scary movie in Geiger's plush home theater.
A nearby sunken living room will become a "terror pit" with a guillotine, a spanking bench, stockades and an electric chair.
"It will have a gate on the front," Malice said, "to keep the freaks in."
IF YOU GO
Geigerween II will be held Saturday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at 3385 Old Keystone Road, East Lake. Tickets are $125 and $250 and must be purchased in advance. Guests must be 21 or older. Costumes are mandatory. Facilities are handicapped-accessible. Tickets may be purchased online at www.GeigerParty.com or call 727 709-5252.
